The goal of this program is to prepare M.D., M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. postdoctoral fellows for biomedical research careers in Transfusion Medicine. This recently (2001) formed Program in Transfusion Biology and Medicine has a broad scope of clinical and basic research activities all of which relate to hematopoietic cell therapy: Blood Banking (the collection, processing and storage of peripheral blood and bone marrow derived cells), Clinical Transfusion Medicine (transfusion/transplantation of mature and stem/progenitor blood cells;cellular immunotherapy), and Transfusion Biology (cellular and molecular biology of blood cells, immunity of blood cells, cellular engineering of stem and immune-competent blood cells). The major Harvard Medical School (HMS) affiliated institutions participating in the training program include Children's Hospital Boston (CHB), CBR Institute for Biomedical Research (CBRI), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). During the first funding period, we have developed a multi-disciplinary program utilizing the strong clinical and basic research environments at HMS. Dr. Leslie Silberstein will continue as the Program Director, and Dr. Denisa Wagner as the Co-Director. Our approach of including rather than excluding faculty is a fundamental strength of our program and fits well with the broad nature of Transfusion Medicine and our overall mission to facilitate cross-fertilization of clinical, basic and translational research talent. The outstanding pool of applicants and recruitment of faculty dedicated to the program has facilitated this goal. Our faculty, consisting of physicianscientists (M.D., M.D./Ph.D.) or PhD scientists, represent a broad range of disciplines, many of whom are not only connected through this postdoctoral training program but also through other Harvard wide, multiinstitutional programs, e.g. Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Center for Human Cell Therapy, Dana Farber-Harvard Cancer Center, NHLBI funded Clinical Trials Network in Transfusion Medicine/Hemostasis. During the past five years, this training program has supported 22 trainees (6 M.D., 6 M.D./Ph.D., 10 Ph.D.). Of these, seven have faculty positions, one is in residency training, and one has a position in biotechnology industry;eleven remain in training. The current Training Program is considered to be unique in the U.S. and is expected to continue to provide a rich training environment for academic transfusion medicine. (End of Abstract)